Warning: Contains Spoilers
HBOOkay, so the final ever episode of Game of Thrones aired last night (May 19) and it’s fair to say it’s left us with more questions than answers.
Mostly: why does the North just get to stay independent, where did Drogon fly off to, what happened to the Unsullied, and whose water bottle was that?!
Oh, and also why on earth was it decided that (spoiler alert) Bran Stark of all people should become king. Literally, why?
HBOIt all came about after Daenerys turned all Mad Queen on us and burnt King’s Landing literally to the ground, after which she gave a long speech and tried to convince Jon Snow – aka her nephew, aka her lover (yikes) – to join her as she ruled Westeros.
Dany becoming queen would have been that bit too convenient for the Game of Thrones writers though, and so instead they had Jon murder his auntie/lover in an act of true betrayal.
But Jon didn’t then automatically become king. Nope. Again, that would’ve been too convenient for the writers and maybe a bit predictable, so instead they had a council formed in the wake of Dany’s death vote Bran into power. Bran. Of all people. Really?!
HBOAs much as fans really weren’t expecting this massive spanner thrown in the works, it seems Bran might have been destined for the crown since the first season. Well, since the first episode, to be precise.
If we go back in time eight years to the pilot episode where Ned Stark says, ‘King of the Andals and the First Men,’ everyone just assumed at the time that he meant Jon – because the camera panned to him.
But who was standing in front of Jon, almost unnoticeable in his older brother’s shadow? That’s right, none other than Bran – the future Three-Eyed Raven and ruler of the Seven (well, six) Kingdoms.
In the #GameofThrones Pilot, the camera cuts to Bran, not Jon, when Ned Stark says 'King of the Andals and the First Men' pic.twitter.com/3WxaTKKJwv
— Game of Thrones Facts (@thronesfacts) May 20, 2019
Now, this could simply be explained by saying Bran was just standing next to Jon at the time and so was obviously going to appear in the shot as the camera panned to Jon.
Orrrr… the writers of the show could have been planning this all along and that scene in the pilot episode was their way of hinting at the ending without actually giving anything away.
Regardless of what the meaning behind all of this is, Bran is king and we’ve just got to accept it. Even if we really don’t want to.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).